Canadian music industry wants to reimpose “iPod tax”

The fee would increase the cost of portable media players by as much as CAN$75 …

While no one can accuse the Canadian Private Copying Collective of failing to fight for the perceived rights of the recording artists and record labels that make up its membership, an argument could be made that the CPCC is utterly oblivious to the rest of the world. Christopher Maughan, writing in the Canadian Press, details the latest attempt by the CPCC to do what is right for its members.

Even as the debate rages over the future of digital music and DRM, the CPCC is talking about a levy on portable media players, something that was struck down by the Federal Court of Appeal two years ago. It was ruled that the hard drives in portable media players could not be separated from the players, unlike recording media, which is taxed in Canada. In short, taxing media is fine, but taxing hardware is not. David Basskin, of the CPCC board of directors, voices the position of the organization on the issue.

"When you look at the device as a whole, it's hard not to believe that its sole purpose is to record audio," said Basskin. The CPCC is now seeking levies ranging from $5 to $75, based on the capacity of the player's hard drive.

It's hard to argue against logic like that, mostly because it's closer to wish fulfillment. What's the difference between a hard drive in a computer and a portable media player, other than purpose? Surely, some Canadians play music on their computers. Wouldn't that mean at least a partial tax should be levied on every computer? What about flash-based players, or flash memory in devices like mobile phones? There are a lot more mobile phones in Canada capable of playing music than portable media players, shouldn't they be taxed too?

Rather than waste time trying to take the argument seriously, let's just address the issue as the CPCC and David Basskin really see it.

"We'd all like lots of things to be free. But those who create the
music deserve to be compensated. When you go and buy an iPod, the
retailer gets paid. So you can't say that the people who make the music
should get a free ride."

And here we see the difference between Americans and Canadians. While the Canadians are circumspect with their language, the Americans come right out and call customers thieves.